“Fix this!”

For a moment, I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“You want me to fix what you did?”

“You can tell her you forgive me!”

“I do forgive you.”

The room went quiet.

Vanessa stared at me.

For one second, hope appeared on her face.

Then I finished the sentence.

“But forgiving you doesn’t erase what you did.”

Her expression collapsed.

Eleanor nodded.

“Exactly.”

And the consequences didn’t stop there.

The orchestra’s insurer filed a claim for the destroyed violin.

The venue permanently banned Vanessa from foundation properties.

Meridian documented why the investment had been withdrawn.

Three weeks later, another investor pulled out.

Two influencers who had contracts with Velle Fashion ended their partnerships once the incident became part of the insurance dispute.

Then Vanessa learned one final detail.

The eighty-thousand-dollar valuation of Grandpa’s violin wasn’t sentimental.

The instrument had been produced by a respected nineteenth-century Italian workshop.

Years earlier, I had taken it to a specialist who authenticated it.

That was why it was insured.

And because Vanessa had deliberately destroyed it, she was personally responsible for the loss.

She called me twelve times the day her lawyer explained that.

I answered once.

“You’re destroying my life,” she cried.

“No,” I said. “I went onstage after you tried to destroy mine.”

“You could cancel the claim.”

“I could.”